1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a remedial device for hand insufficiency, which aids in restoring normal functions of arm joints, hands and fingers by overcoming hindrances inflicted thereon in consequence of diseases and lesions of the central nervous system such as cerebro-vascular lesions, epicerebral injuries, cerebral palsy and spinal lesions, injuries of the peripheral nerves, and injuries of the joints and muscles. More particularly, this invention relates to bag bodies for accommodating air sacks which allow fingers to be expanded and hand joints to be extended and dorsiflexed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When the aforementioned various diseases and lesions have inflicted functional disorders on forearms, arm joints, hands, and fingers, it becomes necessary to cure these diseases and lesions and, at the same time, strive for restoration of motility through training. It has long been held that the restoration of the function of the arm joints, hands and fingers is extremely difficult. In spite of a myriad of studies being performed recently in the medical science of rehabilitation, a satisfactory remedial device has not yet been developed. An attempt at enabling arm joints, hands and fingers handicapped in the function of flexion, contracture or extension to be extended by the action of air pressure or a spring results in the production of complicated motions which more often than not impose uncalled-for burdens on patients. The conventional devices which are based on this operating principle have produced no satisfactory results.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,606 discloses such a remedial device which comprises a glove body (trank) of palm cloth resembling a hand having the four fingers and thumb thereof spread out, finger stoppers disposed on the front side of the trank and adapted to individually fix the thumb and fingers in their spread state, a hand back stopper for fixing the back of the hand, a wrist stopper and an arm stopper jointly adapted to fix the trank to the arm, first bag bodies interposed between the fingers and adapted to accommodate air sacks causing the fingers to be spread out, second bag bodies disposed on the back side of the trank and accommodating therein air sacks extended from the palm to the inner arm surface of the arm and used to cause extension of joints, and air tubes connecting the air sacks to a compressed air feed and discharge device.
By repeating the cycle of feeding compressed air to the air sacks and, after a required duration, discharging the air from the air sacks, the prior art device enables the hand joints and fingers in the state of dysfunction, respectively, to produce motions of extension and dorsiflexion and a motion of expansion rhythmically and intermittently and, as a result, relieves patients of dysfunctions in flexion, contracture and extension and, at the same time, gives rise in the patients to a factor for inducing autokinesis.
The prior art device is capable of manifesting a curative effect not attained to date and commands high esteem currently in the therapeutic field. It nevertheless has a problem in the following points.
In the prior art device, the trank has a total of eight bag bodies on the front and back sides thereof each for accommodating an air sack. With respect to the front side of the trank, since the bag bodies for the air sacks to be individually used between the index finger and the middle finger, between the middle finger and the ring finger and between the ring finger and little finger are usable on a trank for either hand and the bag body for accommodating the air sack to be used between the thumb and the index finger is different on the tranks for both hands, glove foundations can be obtained from just two kinds of patterns. As far as the front side of the trank is concerned, the manufacture of the device under discussion including the work of sewing bag bodies entails no particular problem regarding manufacturing time and product quality.
As illustrated in FIG. 9, however, a trank 80 is provided on the back side 81 of a glove foundation with bag bodies 82, 83, 84 and 85 differing in shape from one another and serving to accommodate air sacks similarly to the bag bodies on the front side. These four bag bodies 82 to 85 are formed by cutting foundations for differently shaped bag bodies from one sheet of cloth, respectively, using four patterns, attaching slide fasteners 82a, 83a, 83b, 84a, 85a and 85b to relevant positions on the foundations, and binding gussets (not shown). The device is then finished by sewing the bag bodies 82 to 85 to the back side 81 of the glove foundation and sewing the adjoining parts of the bag bodies 82 to 85 together.
Various disadvantages arise where the plural kinds of bag bodies are large as in the case of FIG. 9. For example, the work of cutting the foundations for bag bodies from the cloth takes much time and the work of sewing the bag bodies consumes much time. Further, since the bag bodies are separated from one another, the work of sewing them to the glove foundation consumes much time and tends to result in discrepancies in the quality of workmanship. It is held that the bag bodies 83 and 85 particularly prohibit uniformization in the work of sewing because they are large and, moreover, are disposed over a wide range from the entire palm over the inner surface of the forearm and are possessed of a dart 86 which determines the condition of dorsiflexion in the motion of extension. When the workmanship of sewing varies between the bag bodies 83 and 85, this variation imparts twists to these bag bodies and causes a change in size and compels the dart 86 to give rise to a difference in angle of dorsiflexion or in position of dorsiflexion between the two bag bodies. In other words, deformation of the trank 80 constitutes itself an obstacle to the manifestation of a higher curative effect. The device, therefore, has a problem as to how the product quality (in terms of shape and dorsiflexion) should be uniformized.
Further, in the prior art device, the emplacement of a hand on the palm cloth is attained by fixing the fingers of the hand to the palm cloth with the finger stoppers formed in the relevant positions thereon and fastening the wrist and forearm to the palm cloth by winding the arm stoppers (the wrist stopper and the hand arm stopper), extending laterally in the opposite directions from the opposite sides of the palm cloth at the wrist position and the forearm position, around the wrist and the forearm in such a manner as to intersect each other, and then joining VELCRO fasteners provided on the arm stoppers. The fixation of the back of the hand to the palm cloth is attained by securing one hand back stopper provided near where the bases of the thumb and index finger would lie on the palm cloth to the wrist stopper with VELCRO fasteners.
However, when it is attempted to emplace a hand whose fingers are handicapped with contracture on the palm cloth in the manner described above, since only the hand back stopper is used in fixing the back of the hand, the possibility arises that the little finger side of the hand will float up from the palm cloth. The arm stoppers are adapted to be opened in the manner of a double door and, therefore, have the possibility of producing weak fixing power. When the wrist stopper is not fixed steadily, the possibility exists that the wrist will not fit the palm cloth and will produce an empty space thereunder. Owing to these disadvantages, there have rarely been times when the motion of expanding the little finger side of the hand and the motion of extension for dorsiflexing the wrist joint toward the back of the hand are not produced sufficiently during the feeding of the compressed air to the air sacks.